The Fees

In Taiwan, I bank at the post office. The same sane and reliable people that handle my letters also handle my negligible savings. The other day I was all out of blue Taiwanese Monopoly money, so I had to go to the ATM, but there was no Bank of Post Office around, so I went to the Bank of Taiwan and asked a teller how much a non Bank of Taiwan ATM transaction fee would be. She thought for a minute and said "6 yuan." Satisfied, I turned to leave, and as I walked away the teller yelled "Wait! It is 7 yuan." OK. Instead of $0.20 the Bank of Taiwan would charge me $0.23 for the privilege to withdraw money from their ATM.

And that was it. Less than an quarter to withdraw money from a strange bank. Although, to be honest, that fees haven't showed up on my statement yet. I don't know how American bank's justify charging $3, both from your bank and the other bank, but I hope they invested all the profits in sub-prime mortgages.